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This article focuses on the evolution of the principles of training the poor, combining work and education, developed by the Zurich pedagogue Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi between 1770 and 1815. Initially, Pestalozzi sought to lay the foundations for an education that could be financed by industrial child labor. Child labor was seen not only as a useful source of income, but even more as a means of contributing to the health of young boarders through constant, orderly activity. Some thirty years later, when child labor in factories had developed considerably in Switzerland, the pedagogue seemed to recognize its harmful effects. He then looked to physical activity and gymnastics - which he placed at the heart of his new institute projects – as a means of preparing children’s bodies for the industrial work they would have to perform throughout their lives.